Reclining chair



i a'tented Nov. 4, 195 2 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE Amanda Jensen, Oakland, ,Calif.; .0. Stanley Wood executor of said Amanda Jensen, de-

ceased Application Ma'y519, 1945, Serial swam 4 Claims. (01. lea-452) Mypresentinvention relates to chair-type furniture and more particularly to an improvement in reclining chairs by which the seat and back portions of the chair may be adjusted and supported in various positions with respect to each other. 7 V

An object of my invention is to provide a reclining chair in which theseat and back formin portions of the chair maybe positionedrel ative to each other in :a new and novel manner and without the use of ratchets, racks, or like mechanisms.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved hinge for the association of two relatively movable members which will permit the hinging of said members between an inclined right angle rel-ation and a flat coplanar relation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a chair having hingedly mounted seat and back portions and a novel form of spring by which the operation of the hinged parts is improved in a novel andefiective manner. I s I I A further object of thinvention is to provide a combined support Iorthe swingingback and seat port-ions of arecliningchair, inwhich the relative positions of the back vand seat of the chair will be vdeterr'riined by the forcs -exerted poh by he, s b e W ht a 99 pant without other adjusting or positioning ineans.

Another object of the invention is to provide-a pivot-like support for the back anasea p tions of reclining chair, in which the pivot point about which the parts, move will form a fulcrum over which the distributed weight of an occupant may balanced to ther byp'os'ition the back and seat portions of the chair inconforinity with the posture assumed by an occupant. I

other objects and advantages' w n be in part evident to those skilled in the art and in part pointed out hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein there is shown by way of illustration and not of limitation a prefer ed embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing;

Figural. ectional "ide eievatipntaken a planeimr'nediitfly adj cent thefinside' r the near side of a chair constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a view drawing, howing the parts of thechair in another position, or as viewed along line II I'I of su ,a e I Figure 3 is a reduced bottom View of the chair 4 Figure? of the drawing.

s shown similar to Figure l of the i horizontal position.

Reference is now made to Figure 1 of the drawing, where I have shown the invention in its simplest form. In this showing the .chair body is illustrated as comprising two vertically disposed and spaced side members It, that are heldin spaced relation by a transversely extending front member ,l. l and a similarly disposed rear member I2. The front andrear members ll and l2 operate to maintain the sides 10 of the chair in parallel spaced rlation and serve certain other v functions as will hereinafter yappean It will be understood that the chair may take many other .forms; ,for example,- it may be of the overstuffed type, in which the sides and ends will be completely enclosed by upholstery, or it maybe of metal with a modernistic design, or constru'cted or rattan or willow. The only requirement will be that the chair frame be adapted to provide a pivotal support, designated by the numeral [3 in the drawing, upon which a back portion I4 may be pivotally mounted to swing from a substantially vertical position to a In addition to this, the transversely disposed front member ll should be arranged to operate as a support rare, float ing bottom or seat portion of the chair, desig nated by the numeral [5. p 7

As here shown, the back and seatportions H and [5 of my improved chair are provided respectively with tufted cushions I6 and II, that are preferably held in place by any suitable means when applied to the chair. In this ar rangement the back portion I I of the ch-air is provided with a pair of forwardly extending brackets it, one at each side thereof at its lower end. Likewise' -the' floating seat portion ii of the chair is provided with a pair of upwardly extending brackets or hinge forming member's I9, one ateach Sid'eand near its inner end. These bracket members 18 and [9 are pivotally secured together as at ZEJ and provide' a hinged connection between the back portion l4 and seat portion 15 of the chair. In this manner the back and seat portions [4 and I5 are supported in whole or in part and operate with respect to the pivot Zllj as an articulatedunit; As an additional element, the back portion I l of the chair hasa downwardly depending stop fengaging member 2i th at is 'adapted to cooperate with aresilient spring stop 22 shown in the form of a leaf spring which is carried by the transversely extending rear member 12 of the chair. When the back portion 1-4 of the chair is in its upright position as here shown, it will be seen that the pivotal connectionfll between the bracket members" 18 and I9 will form a support 3 for the inner end of the seat portion I 5. At the same time the outer end of the seat portion I of the chair will be slidably supported by the transversely extending front member H of the chair.

In order to counterbalance the weight of the back portion with its pad 16 and normally return the chair to its conventional position, the front portion ll of the chair is shown as carrying a spring means 23, which is so connected at its outer end to the seat portion l5 that it will permit of a slight forward and backward sliding movement of the seat portion of the chair. This spring means 23 operates to exert a downward pull adjacent the inner end of the seat portion l5, which will be transmitted to the brackets l8 and thus the back and seat portions [4 and I5 of the chair will be caused to normally assume the position in which they are here illustrated. This spring means 23 is here shown as comprised of leaf spring units, each of which have a long leaf 24 with a reversed curvature and an upper leaf 25 of proper curvature which will cooperate with leaf 24 to produce the desired downward exertion of force by the spring 23. As shown, the chair is preferably provided with two leaf springs 23, each of which extends inwardly from the front portion II and over a strap 28 that is attached to the bottom of the seat portion [5. This will permit the seat portion l5 of the chair to move relative to the spring 23 from one of its extreme positions to the other without materially affecting the downward pull exerted thereby.

Upon referring to Figure 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that when the back portion 14 is swung back into its horizontal position, the bracket forming members l8 and [9 will extend upwardly beyond the pivotal point l3, and as a result the seat forming portion [5 of the chair will be caused to rise and align itself in coplanar relation with the back forming portion [4. This will cause the tufted pads l5 and I! to be also positioned in coplanar relation and thus provide a level surface upon which an occupant may lie perfectly fiat. When the back portion [4 and the seat portion !5 are in this position, the stop engaging member 2| carried by the back portion M will swing upwardly and into engagement with the under side of seat forming portion 15 where it will operate to further insure a substantially coplanar alignment of the back and seat forming portions of the chair. During this operation the spring leaves 24 and 25 of the spring means 23 will be raised and placed under a greater stress, which will compensate for the over balancing weight of the back portion I4 when in this position. It will also be noted that the spring stop 22 has now moved outwardly so as to assume its normal inoperative position. At this point it will be noted that the rear member [2 of the chair frame is not extended up to a point where it is directly engaged by the back portion l4, and therefore the back portion I4 is provided with a cleat-like extension 28 which is positioned to engage the rear member [2 of the chair frame and thus support the back portion It in a horizontal .position.

By referring to Figure 3 of the drawing, it will be noted that the stop engaging member 2! may be in the form of a simple panel-like extension secured to the back portion M where it will cooperate with the single spring means 22 positioned centrally with the back member I2 of the chair. In this figure the strap member 26 is shown as extending substantially across the bottom of seat portion [5 and as secured thereto at its ends by means of adjustable screws 21, but it will be understood that the spring means 23 may be attached to the seat portion in other ways. It will be also evident that a single spring means 23 may be used if desired. I

It is believed that the operation of my invention will be fully understood from the above. However, it should be explained that the details of construction may vary as the design and type of chair or the nature of its use may dictate. The principal point to be observed in the construction of a chair in accordance With this invention is that the hinged connecting point 26 provided by the brackets I8 and 19 carried respectively by the back portion l4 and the seat portion [5 should be located forwardly of the pivotal point l3 about which the back of the chair pivots, where the hinge point 20 will move in a substantially vertical are located forward of the pivotal point l3. With the parts thus assembled, it will be seen that when an occupant is seated in the chair, his principal Weight will be exerted downwardly and upon the seat portion I5. As a result, a leverage will be exerted through the bracket [8 about pivotal point 13, which will cause the back portion M to assume and maintain a substantially vertical position. Now should the occupant desire to recline, he can determine his final reclining position by merely dividing the weight exerted by his shoulders and buttocks, respectively, upon the back and seat portions of the chair, so as to balance these forces over the pivotal point l3 as a fulcrum at the point desired. This is explained by the fact that when the occupant exerts a backward force upon the back portion M with his shoulders, this effort will transfer some of the occupants weight from the inner end of seat portion l5 and permit it to rise. During this operation some force may be exerted on the seat portion I 5 by the legs of the occupant immediately above and under the knees, but this force will have no influence upon the operation above described. By the same token when the occupant desires to lie preferably flat he may distribute his weight between his shoulders and legs so as to remove more weight from the inner end of the seat portion I5. This will permit seat portion I5 to rise until the back and seat portions l4 and I5 of the chair assume positions in substantially level coplanar relation with each other.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose the invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated a specific device and arrangement, I desire to have it understood that the invention is not limited to the specific form disclosed, but may be embodied in other ways that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and it is desired to claim it so that all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims are to be considered a part of this invention.

.Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A reclining chair comprising a frame having upstanding side portions, a back portion mounted between said side portions for movement about a transverse axis, a hinge means for supporting said back portion at a point rearwardly of said transverse axis and having an arm extending forwardly thereof, a floating seat portion hingedly connected with the, arm of said hinge means at a point forward of the said transverse axis, means for slidably supporting the outer end of said floating seat portion, and spring means tending to bias said floating seat portion downwardly at its hingedly connected end when said back portion is moved to its horizontal position, and a support at the rear end of said frame for limiting the backward movement of said hinged back portion to a horizontal position.

2. In a reclining chair of the character described, the combination of a frame having spaced side portions, a back forming portion pivotally connected at its lower end between said side portions and adapted to swing from a substantially vertical to a horizontal position, a floating seat portion pivotally connected at its inner end to the pivotally supported end of said back portion at a point forward of the latters pivotal point and substantially above said seat portion, means for slidably supporting the free end of said seat portion, and leaf spring means carried by said frame adapted to bias said floating seat portion in a downward direction and yieldingly bias said back portion toward its substantially vertical position.

3. In a reclining chair of the character described, the combination of a supporting frame having spaced side portions and laterally extending front and rear portions, a back forming portion adapted to swing between said side portions from a substantially vertical to a horizontal position, a floating seat portion slidably mounted at its outer end upon the laterally extending front portion of said frame, a pair of brackets secured one at each side to said back forming portion near its lower end and pivotally engaging an adjacent side portion of said frame, a second pair of brackets secured one at each side near the inner end of said floating seat portion and hingedly connected at their ends to a corresponding one of said first brackets to form a hinged connection therebetween, said hinged connection being disposed to swing in a substantially vertical are about and forwardly of the pivotal point about which said first brackets and said back portion move, spring means operating to exert a downward force at the inner end of said floating seat portion, whereby said back portion will be normally held in a substantially vertical position, means carried by said back portion and extending downwardly below its pivotal point upon said frame, and spring means carried by the laterally extending rear portion of said frame adapted to cooperate with said downwardly extending portion and normally stop forward movement of said back portion as it approaches its substantially vertical position.

l. A. reclining chair comprising: a frame; a chair seat fulcruzned at its forward end to the front end of said frame, said seat being arranged to support a relatively thick seat cushion; a chair back fulcruined adjacent its lower end on the rear end of said frame and arranged to support a relatively thick back cushion; a forwardly extending hinge strap fastened to the lower end of said chair back; an upwardly extending hinge strap fastened to the rear end of said chair seat and hinged. to said forwardly extending hinge strap at a point substantially forward of said chair back and substantially above the rear end of said chair seat; and means associated with said frame and cooperating with said hinge straps for biasing said chair back to a substantially upright position.

JOSEPH M. JENSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 323,797 Dowe Aug. 4, 1885 488,773 Peck Dec. 27, 1892 740,966 Wylie Oct. 6, 1903 763,656 Bennett June 28, 1904 799,128 Wilmot et al. Sept. 12, 1905 820,864 Hanger May 15, 1906 1,026,074 Cain May 14, 1912 1,714,936 Warner May 28, 1929 1,789,337 Knabush et al Jan. 20, 1931 

